With the advent of offshore drilling and the transportation of liquids such as gas and oil through underwater pipes robotically operated machines are needed to repair pipes that extend through deep waters. To repair a submerged pipe, the pipe must first be cut in two locations to remove a defective portion, after which the disconnected ends of the undamaged portions must be prepared to receive a repaired length of pipe. In order for a repair length to attach around one of the cut ends, the end of the pipe must be beveled. The machines necessary to repair a portion of defective pipe must therefore be capable of both cutting a length of pipe to leave an open end, and beveling the open end of the pipe. To minimize the number of machines that must be employed to repair a length of submerged pipe, it is desirable that a single machine be capable of performing more than one function.
Tools are currently available for severing a length of pipe and for beveling a length of pipe, but to the knowledge of the applicant no single tool is available for both severing and beveling a length of pipe. Accordingly, a machine cannot be fitted with a single tool to both sever and bevel a pipe without replacing the tool. There is therefore a need for such a multipurpose tool.